Texas Medicine

The health impact pyramid offers a framework for considering the relative significance of socioeconomic determinants of health and for prioritizing interventions that may be effective in improving health outcomes in hard-to-reach and rural populations. Barriers to health care delivery in rural settings are outlined with examples provided. Demonstration projects in East and West Texas are reviewed. Those programs reach unique populations such as agricultural and migrant workers and those with mental illness by using innovative approaches, such as the use of specially trained community health workers and telehealth and telemedicine...

At the beginning of the 20th century, the major health threats to individual and community health in the United States were infectious diseases, injuries due to unsafe workplaces, diseases due to poor nutrition, and poor maternal and infant health. During the next 100-plus years, tremendous advances were made in longevity and health status. As the impact of certain historically significant diseases decreased, however, the pattern of public/population disease burden became dominated by chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma, and cancer...

Health care delivery and health promotion require timely, accurate, and useful information. Nowhere are useful data more needed than population health management. Although mountains of health-related data exist, useful information is often diffuse, poorly organized, and often inaccurate and incomplete, and doesn't serve those providing health care to individual patients, managing care for groups of patients, or promoting health for communities. Information and communication technologies are rapidly evolving to enhance population health management...

Texas's size and unique population demographics present challenges to addressing the state's cancer burden. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is one of 69 National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers across the United States. While these centers traditionally have focused on research, education and training, and providing research-driven patient care, they are in a unique position to collaboratively advance population health through cancer control. Unlike the traditional academic model of a three-legged stool representing research, education, and patient care, MD Anderson's mission includes a fourth leg that incorporates population health approaches...

Filling out death certificates can be confusing for Texas physicians, and vital health information often gets left off of forms. Because of this, officials don't have accurate information on how Texans are dying.

Opioid abuse has killed tens of thousands of Americans in recent years, prompting health plans to adjust their prescription drug policies, including changing formularies and prior-authorization processes.

The Center for Health Care Research Data at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health has earned a certification that will allow it to analyze and report on Medicare claims data from Texas.

Hurricane Harvey devastated the Texas coast in late August. Widespread flooding in the Houston area wiped out thousands of homes and businesses, including countless medical facilities and practices. Although the short-term health concerns may be apparent, longer-term effects associated with stress and environmental issues can be harder to spot.

The United States is the only major industrialized country in the world to not require paid parental leave. Numerous studies have shown that allowing parents time with a newborn makes the child and the parents healthier, both physically and mentally. Many physicians, especially those who work in practices with five or fewer doctors, worry about how to pay for parental leave for themselves and their staff.

The Physicians Advocacy Institute is helping doctors understand the MACRA Quality Payment Program (QPP) by launching an online resource center with the help of the Texas Medical Association, other state medical societies, and health care consulting firm Healthsperien.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality both have roles in regulating waste that physician practices generate, and it's not all about proper handling and disposal. Registration and paperwork negligence can land practices in big trouble as well.

Physicians who work in small practices constantly face a basic marketing question: What's the best way to sell myself and my business to the community? Because few physicians studied business principles, many won't know the answer. That's why the Texas Medical Association is publishing a book titled Marketing Smart: A Guide for Medical Practices.

Following the passage of TMA-supported legislation to loosen maintenance of certification (MOC) requirements, Texas is now a national leader in reducing the onerousness of MOC on physicians. What will the new law do once it takes effect at the beginning of 2018, and what could it do to keep more physicians in practice?

Most public health measures languished in the 85th Texas Legislature, but those for mental health care stood out as a giant exception. Lawmakers passed more than a dozen bills aimed at improving mental health care. And at a time when most state budgets were slashed, funding for mental health care rose - by a lot.